Strain-specific telomere length revealed by single telomere length analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Terminal restriction fragment analysis is the only method currently available for measuring telomere length in Caenorhabditis elegans. Its limitations include low sensitivity and interference by the presence of interstitial telomeric sequences in the C.elegans genome. Here we report the adaptation of single telomere length analysis (STELA) to measure the length of telomeric repeats on the left arm of chromosome V in C.elegans. This highly sensitive PCR-based method allows telomere length measurement from as few as a single worm. The application of STELA to eight wild-type C.elegans strains revealed considerable strain-specific differences in telomere length. Within individual strains, short outlying telomeres were observed that were clearly distinct from the bulk telomere length distributi

SUBMITTER: Cheung I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC443537 | biostudies-literature | 2004

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature